Can a porn map be map porn?
March 17, 2013 7:08 AM   Subscribe

Global Internet Porn Habits: An interactive map that lets you see the most commonly searched porn terms by state or country. No porn images, but obviously porn-related language and the word porn in the URL, so whether it is SFW is up to you.
posted by jacquilynne (97 comments total) 14 users marked this as a favorite


 
The porn habits of Greenland and Antarctica will forever remain a mystery.
posted by mazola at 7:11 AM on March 17, 2013 [2 favorites]


"Teen" seems to be consistently within the top 10 in the USA and Canada. Gross.
posted by tickingclock at 7:16 AM on March 17, 2013 [4 favorites]


I find it hard to trust results that include porn star names in the top ten. Is Lisa Ann that popular in the Dakotas? Or are there only two dudes there who use PornMD.
posted by graventy at 7:18 AM on March 17, 2013


"compilation"? WTF? Don't really understand exactly what that would be and why everyone else knows to search for it.
posted by Meatbomb at 7:18 AM on March 17, 2013 [1 favorite]


@tickingclock

also, norway, sweden, and germany
posted by This, of course, alludes to you at 7:18 AM on March 17, 2013


I see that "straight" is a popular gay porn search term. Shouldn't "lesbian" be marked as a straight search term also?
posted by idiopath at 7:19 AM on March 17, 2013


tickingclock: ""Teen" seems to be consistently within the top 10 in the USA and Canada. Gross."

In Africa / Asia / Oceania "rape" comes up as a popular term.
posted by idiopath at 7:21 AM on March 17, 2013 [1 favorite]


I am disappointed nothing about poop or grandmothers hit the top 10 in Germany, and it makes me question the methodology of this study.
posted by Meatbomb at 7:23 AM on March 17, 2013 [7 favorites]


Finland has "granny" though, so that balances Scandinavia out age-wise.
posted by graventy at 7:23 AM on March 17, 2013


China has a lot of love for Japan. Japan does not reciprocate.
posted by Fizz at 7:24 AM on March 17, 2013 [9 favorites]


In the Deep South, the #1 term is "ebony." No doubt that reflects the large number of African-Americans (it's #1 in Maryland too), but given the history of the region, you have to wonder about repressed "miscegenation" fantasies among white men.
posted by Cash4Lead at 7:25 AM on March 17, 2013 [1 favorite]


Kentucky: United We Stand, Divided We Fall Free Gay Porn (Gay)
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 7:27 AM on March 17, 2013 [7 favorites]


I do like how a lot of the Euro countries stay true to their school. Take that, American Spunk Hegemony!
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 7:29 AM on March 17, 2013


Lusting after ethnic minorities isn't just for Americans, though. Look at the UK (#2 term "Indian") or France (#2 term "beurette," a slang term for Arab woman).
posted by Cash4Lead at 7:29 AM on March 17, 2013 [1 favorite]


American Spunk Hegemony!

If you've thought about joining metafilter and need an amazing username, enjoy.
posted by Fizz at 7:32 AM on March 17, 2013 [10 favorites]


Iceland wins the Eurokink Award pretty much unopposed.
posted by Meatbomb at 7:36 AM on March 17, 2013 [5 favorites]


Oh god South Korea what the hell are you into
posted by Cash4Lead at 7:36 AM on March 17, 2013 [2 favorites]


Way to go Lebanon: sleeping girls, futunaria (chicks with dicks, yes I had to look that up) and shit orgies.
posted by fungible at 7:41 AM on March 17, 2013


Also: Japanese and Chinese people have an Asian fetish! Who knew?
posted by fungible at 7:44 AM on March 17, 2013


Nigeria #3: Things I jack off to.
They sure know what they like.
posted by bjrn at 7:46 AM on March 17, 2013 [12 favorites]


Chile, Peru and Venezuela are all gay search terms (how they know that, I don't know). If true, I wonder what that means. Only gays have access to the internet?
posted by fungible at 7:50 AM on March 17, 2013 [2 favorites]


Presumably Lisa Ann gets the big bump in Alaska, at least, due to her playing Palin in that one thing (thanks wikipedia!)
posted by Navelgazer at 7:54 AM on March 17, 2013 [2 favorites]


Any idea how to view this on a phone? I'm redirected to mobile site and can't find the map.
posted by murfed13 at 7:54 AM on March 17, 2013 [1 favorite]


Anyone know what the Spanish #1 result "torbe" means? Google translate does not.

Is there a big Tor exit node in Iceland? If so, the Tor traffic could bias their result, given they've such a tiny population.
posted by jeffburdges at 7:55 AM on March 17, 2013 [1 favorite]


Torbe
posted by fungible at 7:56 AM on March 17, 2013


fungible: "Chile, Peru and Venezuela are all gay search terms (how they know that, I don't know). If true, I wonder what that means. Only gays have access to the internet?"

They probably have two searches available, and one is specifically for straight results, the other for gay results. Because if you are running a porn search service and you show gay content to straight users, it tends to make people not come back.

As could be expected (gay) is the marked term, anything not marked gay is assumed straight.
posted by idiopath at 7:57 AM on March 17, 2013


"Teen" seems to be consistently within the top 10 in the USA and Canada. Gross.

The idea that human beings could be physically attracted to 18- and 19-year-old human beings fills me with horror
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 8:00 AM on March 17, 2013 [19 favorites]


In Africa / Asia / Oceania "rape" comes up as a popular term.

Even grosser.
posted by tickingclock at 8:00 AM on March 17, 2013 [1 favorite]


"compilation"? WTF? Don't really understand exactly what that would be and why everyone else knows to search for it.

Urban Dictionary
posted by jacquilynne at 8:01 AM on March 17, 2013 [4 favorites]


The specificity of some countries makes me think the sample size is about three people. Is spycam (gay) really the porn of choice for all of Mauritius? Probably not, but it's fun to snicker.
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 8:02 AM on March 17, 2013


Aaaah I got to Hungary and had to stop looking; no wonder they are so depressed as a country, look at their preferred porn!
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 8:03 AM on March 17, 2013


The idea that human beings could be physically attracted to 18- and 19-year-old human beings fills me with horror

That's true. Due to a personal connection with a case, although not my own, I was thinking of 13- to 15-year-olds, with the other side being in their 40s-50s. :-/
posted by tickingclock at 8:04 AM on March 17, 2013


I have to say, my personal favorite top 10 result is from Nigeria: "Things I jack off to".

Apparently in Nigeria, internet search engines already know what you like.
posted by jacquilynne at 8:06 AM on March 17, 2013 [3 favorites]


#1 in Romania: "Mom and Son."

Way to go, Romania.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 8:14 AM on March 17, 2013


#1 in Romania: "Mom and Son."

Way to go, Romania.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 11:14 AM on March 17 [+] [!]


More like "Momania"....am I right?!?
I'm here all week folks.
posted by Fizz at 8:15 AM on March 17, 2013 [2 favorites]


Apparently in Nigeria, internet search engines already know what you like.

It seems like keystrokes aren't the only kind of strokes the data-miners keep track of.

1. I don't want to know why Israeli porn favors the term "prostate." Don't wanna know. Don't wanna think about it. Gonna stop thinking about. Soon.

2. Military porn. No. Not that either.

I'm sticking with things I jack off to. I mean, I would if I was into that sort of thing.

I'm just saying...
posted by mule98J at 8:16 AM on March 17, 2013


That's true. Due to a personal connection with a case, although not my own, I was thinking of 13- to 15-year-olds, with the other side being in their 40s-50s. :-/

Don't forget that 13-15-year-olds are looking at internet porn too.
posted by shakespeherian at 8:27 AM on March 17, 2013 [4 favorites]


I think they've muddled the data between Nevada and Oregon. For one mousing over Oregon gives the name Nevada. Also, the list you get when mousing over Nevada looks a lot more like the West Coast.
posted by Zalzidrax at 8:30 AM on March 17, 2013 [1 favorite]


Either this is a very small sample group, or Libya is super gay.
posted by running order squabble fest at 8:31 AM on March 17, 2013


Let's all point and laugh and judge other people's private fantasy fodder, let's.
posted by ifjuly at 8:34 AM on March 17, 2013 [2 favorites]


Is South Africa the only one with beautiful making the top ten?
posted by antiwiggle at 8:35 AM on March 17, 2013 [2 favorites]


I'm wondering why 'mom' is in the top 10 for Arizona.

"Your mom's on porn sites."

"Really?" Google
posted by MrVisible at 8:36 AM on March 17, 2013 [1 favorite]


tickingclock: ""Teen" seems to be consistently within the top 10 in the USA and Canada. Gross."

I know others have already touched on this, but you know that in porn terms, a "teen" is anyone under the age of 30, right? The best example i can think of right now is a star called Felony who got into the industry aged 31 but one of her first movies was called "Teen Tryouts Audition 2".

Mind you, 6 months later and she'd probably have been billed as a 'milf'.
posted by Muppet Pastor at 8:36 AM on March 17, 2013 [2 favorites]


This is pretty meaningless without numbers.

Great ad campaign for their website though.
posted by seanmpuckett at 8:48 AM on March 17, 2013 [2 favorites]


I dunno if you'd get the same thing in Nigeria (Google does a lot of localization), but if you google "things I jack off to" here in the US you get a ton of videos uploaded to Pornhub. All by the same guy, all part of a series called "things I jack off to".

A quick sampling of this series shows that it's pretty much all porn of chubby African-American women, all uploaded by a user named Stepdaddie.
posted by egypturnash at 9:05 AM on March 17, 2013 [1 favorite]


Amusing observations about "other people's private fantasy fodder" :

Americans are searching for either boring generic terms or specific major porn studios, suggesting Americans are boring consumerist drones. :P

Australia's #1 search result is aussie (gay). Friends of Dorothy indeed. I hope their tourism industry learns to properly exploit this information, always sounds like a fun place.

Japan has gay results for five out of their top ten though. Impressive! Interestingly, Iran also have gay results for five out of the top ten. Pakistan has indian (gay) at #1 and pakistani (gay) at #3. East asian countries commonly have numerous (gay) results. Is this indicative of repression? How is homosexuality treated in Japan? Ukraine?

Japan has direct variations on "japanese" for seven out of their top ten with their three non-Japanese top interests being asian (gay), hentai, and glossmen (gay). All that sounds quite ethnocentric, but.. Many east asian countries have numerous japanese results too. Is Japan the effectively only east asian porn producing country?

Israel likes prostate at #1, cop (gay) at #5, arab sex at #8, arab anal at #9, and zdenka at #10. hmm

Russia has good taste in porn stars ranking Sasha Grey at #5. I'd never heard of Lisa Ann myself.
posted by jeffburdges at 9:11 AM on March 17, 2013


What is "bbrc" in Wyoming? This data looks pretty sparse.
posted by Hello Dad, I'm in Jail at 9:13 AM on March 17, 2013


Interesting data, terrible visualization. Data is hidden under mouseover. It's a map, but broken up into continents. Only it's not really a map since they fudge things like a big circle for the Vietnam target. Even the little "windows" for displaying keywords don't work; at least one country had 11 keywords with the 11th showing up in some broken place.

If the data is at all reliable it'd be nice to get a table, then present it with countries sorted by primary religion, primary language, and economic status. That's going to be a lot more interesting than the accident that Australia happens to be near Indonesia.
posted by Nelson at 9:18 AM on March 17, 2013


Afaik, all those acronyms one sees across the U.S. represent specific porn companies or series, such as Back Room Casting Couch. Consumerist drones!
posted by jeffburdges at 9:19 AM on March 17, 2013 [1 favorite]


Colombians seem pretty into themselves, not that I can blame them.

1. Colombia
2. Colombia (gay)
3. Colombiana
4. Colombian
7. Colombianas
10. Bogota (gay)
posted by saul wright at 9:25 AM on March 17, 2013


Let's all point and laugh and judge other people's private fantasy fodder, let's.
it's not racist if it's nationalistic
posted by This, of course, alludes to you at 9:38 AM on March 17, 2013


it's not racist if it's nationalistic

It's not too surprising that Poles want Polish language porn.
posted by justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow at 9:41 AM on March 17, 2013 [1 favorite]


I'm guessing the high ranking of gay results in traditionally non-homosexual tolerant societies is the result of those societies existing porn infrastructure not catering to gays so they have to rely on foreign resources.
posted by furtive at 9:52 AM on March 17, 2013 [1 favorite]


Disappointed that there's no results for Ireland. Are they all searching for priest/nun related porn?
posted by PeterMcDermott at 10:00 AM on March 17, 2013


Okay, Ukraine is into raincoat (gay) porn. It's their top search.

I looked that up. It is actually guys jerking off in rainwear.

I mean, whatever gets people off is fine with me, and I can totally understand how rubber and bondage are sexy to some people, but I have no idea how that's a thing.
posted by fungible at 10:04 AM on March 17, 2013 [5 favorites]


China has a lot of love for Japan. Japan does not reciprocate.

Similarly, there's a lot of Israelis want to fantasize about getting fucked up the ass by Palestinians.

Not a lot of desire for that in the opposite direction though. I guess they think they already get enough of that in real life?
posted by PeterMcDermott at 10:07 AM on March 17, 2013 [2 favorites]


Back Room Casting Couch

Seriously?

Every time we have discussions about porn on Mefi I come away from them feeling woefully naive and sheltered. Even knowing rule 34.
posted by zarq at 10:09 AM on March 17, 2013


"Lisa Ann" is one of the top ten searches for North Dakota, South Dakota, Tennessee New Jersey, and New York. According to Wikipedia, Lisa Ann revived her career by playing Sarah Palin in Who's Nailin' Palin?

Huh.
posted by myelin sheath at 10:11 AM on March 17, 2013 [1 favorite]


Cash4Lead: "No doubt that reflects the large number of African-Americans"

This is a very common theme; people acroos the world appear to want to watch people they can identify with and or understand what is being said.

Cash4Lead: "Lusting after ethnic minorities isn't just for Americans, though. Look at the UK (#2 term "Indian") or France (#2 term "beurette," a slang term for Arab woman)."

See above, aren't their large Indian and Arab populations in those countries?
posted by Mitheral at 10:20 AM on March 17, 2013 [3 favorites]


Also I'm somewhat disappointed they didn't break out Canada into individual provinces.
posted by Mitheral at 10:23 AM on March 17, 2013


Vietnam still has love for Traci Lords.
posted by pernoctalian at 10:31 AM on March 17, 2013


This is just a bunch of web stats. Web stats mean almost nothing unless you're extremely careful in how you manipulate them. I don't think any conclusions whatsoever can be drawn from this data set, so I'm not sure it's even worth talking about.
posted by koeselitz at 10:37 AM on March 17, 2013 [1 favorite]


Mitheral: I admit I'm just speculating, and given the dodginess of the data presented here, one can only speculate. But while you are right that people like to fantasize about people who resemble them, don't you think the opposite is also true?
posted by Cash4Lead at 10:38 AM on March 17, 2013


I assume the people who made "straight (gay)" #9 on the Florida list are somehow related to the elderly Jews who mistakenly voted for Buchanan in 2000.
posted by aaronetc at 11:08 AM on March 17, 2013 [2 favorites]


Cash4Lead: "Lusting after ethnic minorities isn't just for Americans, though. Look at the UK (#2 term "Indian") or France (#2 term "beurette," a slang term for Arab woman)."

See above, aren't their large Indian and Arab populations in those countries?


I would assume that would be a part of it, though it wouldn't necessarily follow that the people doing the searching were always Indian or Arab.
posted by Artw at 11:36 AM on March 17, 2013 [1 favorite]


I initially thought Lisa Ann was just a regular lady that most Dakotans knew from high school or something and who was really hot with maybe a promiscuous reputation. Relatively low population up there.
posted by TheRedArmy at 12:23 PM on March 17, 2013 [1 favorite]


Peru
4) just bieber (gay)


Hm.
posted by dephlogisticated at 12:24 PM on March 17, 2013


Also: Japanese and Chinese people have an Asian fetish! Who knew?

Canadians too, it appears!
posted by modernnomad at 12:33 PM on March 17, 2013


I initially thought Lisa Ann was just a regular lady that most Dakotans knew from high school or something and who was really hot with maybe a promiscuous reputation. Relatively low population up there.

She's also #8 in the UK and #5 in India.
posted by myelin sheath at 12:45 PM on March 17, 2013


Good for a giggle. But if this could be done properly, it would be fascinating. Anybody got any idea how to get halfways trustworthy data in this sphere?
posted by stonepharisee at 12:49 PM on March 17, 2013


In other "teen" news: Apple erasing iCloud emails containing phrase 'barely legal teen'
posted by homunculus at 1:19 PM on March 17, 2013


I mostly found the maps interesting as a way to refresh my knowledge of where countries are in proximity to each other. *nerd alert!*

It was also fascinating to see that in Canada and Britain a top search is the most prevalent minority there (Asian and Indian, respectively).
posted by oceanview at 1:22 PM on March 17, 2013


This is so much fun! Just my cup of anthropologial tea. Lots of new vocab, like beurette, tuga (abbreviation of Portuguese), scat (EWWWW! nsfl), pinay (abbreviation for Filipina) the names of various porn stars from different countries, like Maserati in Ghana or Sola Aoi in Indonesia. Delightfully perplexed by some odd cultural choices, like "japan bus" in Egypt? Huh. What's a Japan bus porn thing? Some sort of furtive sex-on-a-bus fetish or schoolgirl or both maybe? Whoda thunk aunt or auntie was sexy in various countries, like in Syria or India?

What's a brcc, like in Wyoming?

Love the clickable map aspect too, a sort of fun dimension to geography games.
posted by nickyskye at 1:54 PM on March 17, 2013 [4 favorites]


The porn habits of Greenland and Antarctica will forever remain a mystery.

Likewise we may never know what gets our irish up.
posted by hal9k at 2:03 PM on March 17, 2013 [1 favorite]


Let's all point and laugh and judge other people's private fantasy fodder, let's.

Yeah, I would rather see the stats on how people view their, and others, fantasies. You can see how several people in this thread have reduced them to the worst possible ideas. As if any kind of fantasy that includes someone of a different color necessarily implies some kind of domination rather than simple appeal. No, actually, it's as if any kind of a fantasy is a bad thing. Sexuality as deviancy is so finely ingrained into humans through our cultural and social systems that it's basically become one big hamster wheel for everyone's viewing pleasure. If you see a bi-racial couple walking down the street, do you then think you've gained some kind of intimate knowledge about them? Obviously we can see they've garnered an achievement of their domination fantasies, right? Do you give a wink and a nod to a white woman because she has her own personal Mandingo giving it to her nightly? How about that Asian man with his white concubine, eh? I think we can be grown ups about this, and not assume everything revolves around the worst possible attributions. At least I would think that someday people can be grown ups about it.
posted by P.o.B. at 2:06 PM on March 17, 2013 [3 favorites]


"Teen" seems to be consistently within the top 10 in the USA and Canada. Gross.

Yeah, not to drive this into the ground, but general porn online is divided into teen and then milf (and then granny OR SO I'VE HEARD). Coed is also out there, but is basically teen as well. And some of the big 'teen' models from the late 1990s are STILL being advertised as teen.

To be troubled by the search for 'teen' porn is either to simply not understand the term as used or you're against all porn.
posted by ratherbethedevil at 2:38 PM on March 17, 2013 [1 favorite]


Alvy Ampersand: "Kentucky: United We Stand, Divided We Fall Free Gay Porn (Gay)"

I find it amusing that free gay porn is so popular in Kentucky the straight community has to use the straight keyword. And then there's Louisana's "straight (gay)." Don't know what's going on there.
posted by pwnguin at 3:18 PM on March 17, 2013


Porn featuring straight people within the gay category, I would have thought.
posted by Artw at 3:36 PM on March 17, 2013


I would guess that "straight (gay)" refers to some sort of straight-acting genre, or else "reluctant conversion" type stuff. However, I am far from an expert.
posted by KathrynT at 3:43 PM on March 17, 2013


It seems odd that Lisa Ann would also be in the top 10 for India. I have doubts.
posted by squinty at 3:50 PM on March 17, 2013 [1 favorite]


About straight (gay), there was that article about gay-for-pay a while back. Watching "straight" dudes getting it on with other dudes is a thing.
posted by subdee at 5:38 PM on March 17, 2013


About straight (gay), there was that article about gay-for-pay a while back.

It's not really so much the gay-for-pay thing as much as labeling the performers as "straight" in some gay porn (regardless of their actual or apparent orientation) is part of the fantasy for some of the consumers.

I have a friend who used to work for one of the major gay porn productions companies (on the corporate side, as a struggling art school grad); his job was writing the back-cover copy for the videos. It sounded like pretty much any other kind of copywriting/tech writing gig, just in this case he'd fast forward through some of it and try to figure out which keywords would make it most saleable. My understanding is as porn has made an almost-complete transition to the internet, the "quality control" of descriptions has taken a hit and people type up whatever might possibly pique a browser's interest, even if blatantly unrepresentative of the contents.
posted by psoas at 6:43 PM on March 17, 2013


Czech Republic #6: castrated shemale

As a pricklady, I think I'd better stay out of the Czech Republic lest someone think cutting off my junk is an appropriate sexy time activity.


Sadly, Japan's #9 - "Glossmen" - is just the name of a site full of well-oiled Japanese guys. I was hoping this was some fascinatingly specific kink I'd never heard of.


You can really see the ethnic distribution of the US' South. "Ebony" is #1 in Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and the Carolinas; it's #6 in Tennessee and Florida, and not on the charts in the rest of the US. Oh wait, it's also #1 in Maryland, #5 in Delaware, and #6 in New York. And #10 in Illinois. But there's a definite cluster going on there in states that I know have a large African-American population.
posted by egypturnash at 9:18 PM on March 17, 2013


ratherbethedevil: "Yeah, not to drive this into the ground, but general porn online is divided into teen and then milf (and then granny OR SO I'VE HEARD). Coed is also out there, but is basically teen as well. And some of the big 'teen' models from the late 1990s are STILL being advertised as teen. To be troubled by the search for 'teen' porn is either to simply not understand the term as used or you're against all porn."

It seems fairly far fetched to me to claim that the word "teen" as applied to pornography is a term of art unconnected with its literal meaning in general parlance. In porn, "teen" seems to actually mean "teen." There are models that pretend to be in their teenage years because that's where the demand is; but they are specifically pretending to be below the age of twenty, so, again, "teen" apparently still means "between 12 and 20" in porn. And the ubiquity of models who keep up this pretense seems to be such that there isn't really a division between "teen" and "milf;" "teen" is apparently the default, and anything else is a fetish catered to on the fringe.

One ought to be troubled by this fact, I think, because it indicates a couple of unhealthy trends. For one thing, it's part of a creeping ephebophilia, which is the frankly predatory attraction to those young people who are barely on the cusp of sexual maturity. That's "gross" and (as I put it) predatory because it destroys any healthy power dynamic and indulges a fantasy of crude domination and subservience; an 18-year-old is more sexually vulnerable, less guarded, less savvy and able to protect herself, and one might note that these qualities and characteristics are emphasized constantly in the type of "teen" themed porn that is currently popular.

In short: it's not weird at all to be a bit grossed out that the sexual immaturity of the actresses is the most popular selling point of porn. And the fact that one is grossed out by that doesn't mean that one is simply against all erotic images or sexual art or other media.
posted by koeselitz at 1:29 AM on March 18, 2013


That's one way to frame up a thought-crime. Some may even say it's kind of distasteful, or "gross", in how contextually flimsy and disconnected the pretense you're using is, but I would just say you are plain wrong.
posted by P.o.B. at 6:00 AM on March 18, 2013


Keep in mind that a significant portion of the people searching for "teen" are undoubtedly teens or close to it themselves.
posted by Mitheral at 6:15 AM on March 18, 2013 [2 favorites]


Keep in mind that a significant portion of the people searching for "teen" are undoubtedly teens or close to it themselves.

True. But isn't a significant percent of porn depicting teens marketed to people who are not? Hustler's "Barely Legal" series, for example.
posted by zarq at 7:01 AM on March 18, 2013


It least Tween doesn't show up.
That I saw.
posted by Mezentian at 7:16 AM on March 18, 2013


One ought to be troubled by this fact, I think, because it indicates a couple of unhealthy trends. For one thing, it's part of a creeping ephebophilia, which is the frankly predatory attraction to those young people who are barely on the cusp of sexual maturity. That's "gross" and (as I put it) predatory

To paraphrase philosopher Mister Rogers, it's okay to have feelings. There is no moral component to emotion. There is only a moral component to action. The reason some sexual acts are wrong is because they have victims; it is not because a person's sexual mores may be inherently immoral.

Pornography is an extension of sexual fantasy. Everyone who jerks off has gone through (or is going through) puberty, and it is through puberty that a person develops sexual fantasy. Most commonly, the person will initially fantasize about people who have characteristics similar to their peers, or similar to themselves. A young post-pubescent person will most commonly develop fantasies about people who share their young characteristics. As the person grows older, at what point do these sexual fantasies become inherently morally wrong? They do not, because there is no moral component to emotion, only to action. This ephebophilia has been "creeping" since before the Ancient Greeks; it's ubiquitous.

Our society has wisely chosen to protect children and to provide sexual freedom to adults: the line has been drawn at 18. The idea that mainstream pornography ever has, might, or should eschew the depiction of young adults is silly.
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 7:39 AM on March 18, 2013 [2 favorites]


But isn't a significant percent of porn depicting teens marketed to people who are not?
Probably. But I don't find the fact it's so high on the top ten list as disturbing because it at least in part ranks that high for similiar reasons as all the ethnic top ten rankings around the world.
posted by Mitheral at 7:50 AM on March 18, 2013


Significant portion? No, I don't believe so. Do you have some numbers that indicate otherwise?
posted by P.o.B. at 7:54 AM on March 18, 2013


P.o.B.: "Significant portion? No, I don't believe so. Do you have some numbers that indicate otherwise?"

Nope. Do you have any statistics that indicate it isn't?

I phrased it as a question for a reason.
posted by zarq at 8:08 AM on March 18, 2013


Nope, but how many people have to make the statement that "teen" really is appended to a significant amount of porn for apparently no reason other than the women may look young. I mean, how are we even supposed to figure out marketing strategies and if they work as intended? What is the average age of the biggest porn consumers? 24, maybe? Is that too old to look at porn featuring 18 year olds?
posted by P.o.B. at 8:20 AM on March 18, 2013


Iceland is either pretty adventurous, or that was a very small sample.

People of so many nationalities want to see porn of their fellow citizens - Brazil, Norway, Sweden, Russia, Italy, Greece, etc etc. But Belgium is torn between the French and the Dutch, and Canada really fancies Asians.

WTF, Romania?!
posted by dickasso at 8:33 AM on March 18, 2013


P.o.B.: "Nope, but how many people have to make the statement that "teen" really is appended to a significant amount of porn for apparently no reason other than the women may look young.

No, I got that part. Sorry. I should have been clearer.

My question wasn't supposed to hinge on whether a porn actress is really a teen or not. Just that some of the porn itself is being marketed a particular way. By which I didn't mean actual marketing / sales strategies but who is being depicted on film and how it's named. If a young-looking, teen-looking woman is having sex with older-looking men in a video labelled "Barely Legal," then I'm assuming the porn is being marketed to a non-teen crowd. I could be totally wrong though.

I mean, how are we even supposed to figure out marketing strategies and if they work as intended?

No idea. I guess that would require a study of who's spending money on what kind of porn? I'm guessing that would be a huge range.

What is the average age of the biggest porn consumers? 24, maybe? Is that too old to look at porn featuring 18 year olds?"

I'm not absolutely sure but I don't think so.
posted by zarq at 9:17 AM on March 18, 2013


Then we would have to figure the amount of porn sold vs the amount downloaded and that probably still wouldn't cover our bases because of all the video sites.
posted by P.o.B. at 9:44 AM on March 18, 2013


The very idea that someone would have a fantasy of a sexual encounter which could be viewed negatively by public society, and find it erotic, or dare I say, risque, is simply shocking!

It's almost as if a fruit which is made forbidden is somehow more alluring... This is a most strange phenomenon.
posted by Debaser626 at 11:24 AM on March 18, 2013 [2 favorites]


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